Moving
by SilverMidnight52
Summary: After spending months living in Midnight Manfred finally begins to see the town as his family and decides that maybe it's time to make the stay feel a little more permanent. (Manfred Pain part 6)


The sixth part of my Midnight, Texas story. There are another three parts after this! Yay! Well, that was the end of the Midnighter's reactions to what happened with Manfred. This addition to the series and the ones to follow are going to be focused really around Manfred and him getting used to having a family. Well, except for the last one, but that'll be explained later.

Warnings: None that I can think of, but tell me if you see any I should know about!

If you want to be kept up to date with any upcoming stories or want to ask me to write a story for you please follow me on Facebook or on Tumblr under SilverMidnight52! I own nothing.

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Rubbing his hand over his eyes Manfred stared out his front window tiredly. It was a little after six in the evening and though he felt worn out he knew that he was too keyed up to relax with a good book and a cup of tea.

A chuckle escaped him when he thought that. The last thing he ever thought he'd be doing on a Thursday night was sitting on his couch reading a book. He never had the time or the home to do something like that.

He was so used to being on the move all the time and having to pack light that he never saw the point. Anyway, sitting still for any amount of time was not a good thing when you had the dead constantly trying to talk to you.

It was the perfect night for some relaxing though. At least it was now. An hour ago it was… Yeah, he really did not want to think about what it was like an hour ago. That was not something that was going to calm him down any.

The only thing that was making him feel better was looking out his window and seeing that nothing was happening outside. Even the normal ghosts that were always lurking on the other side of his door were quiet.

He doubted that they were going to be gone long, but he was going to take the time to enjoy the silence. It wasn't something that he got a lot of these days. Unless he was taking some pills or drinking the special tea. And he was trying to cut back on the pills.

He couldn't thank Fiji enough for giving him that. It wasn't a cure all and it only lasted a few hours, but those few hours of sleep meant more to him than he would ever been able to say. Probably because they kept him sane.

He still couldn't believe what the Rev had told him he did. He had never in his life lost control over his powers like that. Well, except for that one time, but he had been a kid and had never seen even seen a ghost before let alone had one possess him.

For all her flaws Xylda had made sure that he learned how to keep himself and others safe. It was not something he liked to think about, but he refused to let it be used against him. He had been a kid and nothing anyone said made what happened his fault.

Taking a deep breath he pulled his focus away from those thoughts. Right now it wasn't going to do him any good to think about them. Instead he was going to try to do something that he had been putting off for awhile.

Manfred wasn't sure when he had decided to do it, but he knew that it was time to move his things from his trailer to the house. He was getting a little tired of having to drag himself to the trailer just so he could grab a book to read inside only to find he needed something else from the trailer.

Anyway, Xylda had always told him that he had a lot to learn. That the Bernardo family was an old and powerful one. That he could do many things if only he took the time to learn his craft and master it.

He had always laughed at that. Mostly because that was one she'd say one day only to come back the next saying that he was too young or that they needed money so it was time to pull another con.

Sometimes he didn't know where he stood with his grandmother. There was never a doubt in his mind that she loved him. If he ever even began to feel that way she was there in an instant showing him just how much she cared.

The thing he never understood was why some days she wanted him to learn his powers and others she acted like all he could ever do was talk to ghosts. There was something that she was hiding from him.

Well, there used to be something that she was hiding from him. He still couldn't believe she had tried to get him to repress part of his powers. It wasn't like her at all. She was proud of who she was and she held no qualms telling people where to shove it if they didn't like that.

He still couldn't figure out what she had been thinking. He probably never would. The only thing that he could do was try to figure out just how much he could do before he did something that he couldn't stop.

So now that he was on his own it was time to start learning. That wasn't not something he was looking forward to. It wasn't that he didn't like learning new things, but he did like learning things in a language he knew.

Most of the old books were in Romanian. A language that he hadn't heard since he was a child and his father was still alive. Xylda had meant to teach him, but they were too busy. He really really was not prepared for any of this.

He had heard some stories from his grandmother about some of the objects that they had in the trailer and about the ancestors. It wasn't just books about magic or magical items that they had, but his entire family history.

For the most part he could pin point the most important things in their line, but outside of those facts both he and Xylda stopped trying. Well, that was a lie. He stopped trying. Xylda quit. Like she was tired. He couldn't blame her. They did not live in an easy world. They barely lived sometimes.

Now that he was in Midnight though things were different. Not just because he was there, but because he cared about the people in the town. They had become his family. He wanted to learn everything he could to keep them safe.

That meant digging into every aspect of his family and learning it all. He came from a powerful family and he wasn't going to continue to waste that. Not now that he had a family that he wanted to protect. That he could protect.

"Alright," Manfred said to himself taking a deep breath, "I can do this."

Forcing himself away from the window he went outside and to the trailer. As soon as he stepped outs he felt a small spark of magic. It wasn't going to be long before the ghosts were coming to try to talk to him. It would take at least an hour though. He had time.

"Hey, neighbor," Fiji called out walking up to him with Olivia, "What are you doing?"

"Just grabbing some stuff," he offered motioning to the trailer.

"Finally moving in?" Olivia smirked crossing her arms, "Took you long enough."

"What she means," Fiji interrupted with a shake of her head, "Is do you need any help?"

"That was not what I meant."

"Sure," Manfred agreed with a smirk knowing the assassin would help anyway, "I just want to get everything inside for now. I'll figure the rest out later."

Both women nodded their heads and followed him into the trailer. It wasn't exactly clean or organized. If he was honest even after living there for most of his life he had no idea what was in there at all. He really hoped nothing was too dangerous.

"Just grab things and hope you don't kill us all," Manfred stated kneeling down and going for the most powerful items that he knew.

"Please tell me you're joking," Olivia said looking around at everything suspiciously.

"Um. Should I lie? Because I don't think you're going to like the truth."

A smile came to Manfred's and Fiji's lips at the assassin sent a glare his way before turning and grabbing some books. If he wasn't sure that she would punch him, even jokingly her punches hurt, he'd laugh at the look. She was so easy sometimes.

None of them spoke as they slowly emptied the trailer. He never realized just how much was in the small space until it was in his living room. It also accord to him just how little he had in the house after months of living there.

"So this is your stuff," Olivia nodded her head looking at everything.

"No," Manfred sighed picking up a wooden box, "This is my family's things. Pasted down for generations and coveted by many in the magical community. There are a lot of wards that I have to put up to make sure no one can sense this magic."

"Wait, you know wards to stop people from sensing powerful objects, but not for keeping ghosts out of you home? How does that make sense?"

"I quit asking that when I was a kid. Never got an answer."

Olivia opened her mouth to respond only to be cut off by the sound of the front door slamming shut. Spinning around he went to the window and saw Fiji making her way to her home. Looking at the other woman they both shrugged before falling onto the couch.

They sat there in a comfortable silence for a few minutes before Fiji walked back in the house with that happy yet peaceful smile on her lips. He couldn't help but smile back as she made her way to him and dropped a leather bound book in front of him as well as some index cards.

"What's this?" he asked staring at the belongs in confusion.

"It's your grimoire," Fiji stated proudly, "I know you're not a witch, but your magic and my magic run along the same vein. I thought you'd like it."

Nodding his head he placed the index cards to the side and ran his fingers over the leather book. He had seen a few grimoire's in his time and he always thought that they were rather boring. Just fancy journals for witches.

The one sitting in his lap though was something different. He didn't know how to describe it, but it made him feel peaceful. Like it was supposed to be in his lap. Manfred had never thought that something would make him feel that way.

A smile came over his lips as he looked at the design on the spine. It was a dream-catcher. He always loved looking at them when he was younger. Often times he found himself drawn to them, but he had never bought one. Now he didn't have to.

"I do," he answered looking up at her, "It's beautiful."

"I know," she shrugged sitting on the other side of him, "I found it about a year after I moved here when I was out shopping with my aunt. As soon as I saw it I knew I had to have it. I've tried to write in it a few times over the years, but it never felt right. It never felt like it belonged to me. Now I know why."

Running a hand over the dream-catcher he let out a soft chuckle before patting the back of her hand once. He was getting better at being about to touch people, but it seemed like he was getting better at a lot of things now that he was in Midnight.

"What about these?" Olivia questioned tapping the index cards.

"Spells and teas mostly," Fiji offered the grin growing on her face, "For making a space dead proof and for getting sleep if they're too loud. Most are things I've helped you with already. I didn't write them in the grimoire. I figured you should have that honor."

"Thank you," Manfred replied placing it on the table in front of him, "How can I repay you?"

"We're family, Manfred. You don't repay family. You just take care of each other."


End file.
